I have seen this mentioned before. How does it work?
CTC systems communicate between the dispatcher and the interlockings along the way. Traditionally, this has been done by burying cable along the ROW. Lots of things can go wrong with the cable, however. It can be cut while digging along the ROW. Water can get into it. It can get old and the insulation fail. So, RRs were always on the prowl for a cheaper, reliable communication scheme. In the mid to late 80s, the RRs thru the AAR, contracted with ARINC (an aerospace contractor in Annapolis MD) to write some specifications for communication-based train control. This effort was called Advanced Train Control System (ATCS) - the forerunner of PTC/PTS. There was a whole series of specifications that spelled out equipment for wayside, locomotives, data radio network, communication protocol, etc. Spec 20 detailed using the data radio network for code line. The communication protocol specified how the messages packet were to be send and “unpackaged” as well as making sure the message were sent and received as intended. Spec 20 spelled out the message in between the packet header and footer. Since the radio broadcasts are “in the open” anyone can receive these data packets. The ATCS monitor decodes these packets and displays them on a track line view showing track occupancy, switch position and routes cleared. Some of the radio data has been passed along on the internet so you can connect that way instead of using a modified radio receiver (scanner). So, you can sit at home and see how the trains are moving on a rail line on the other side of the country. Pretty neat.
ATCS is a real boon for the railfan. I pretty much had it up and running the whole time I was in Deshler this past summer, so we had a good idea when to expect traffic and when to run over to the store for something to eat, or maybe take a nap.
There is an ATCS forum on Yahoo dedicated to the subject. You can download the software, specific area mapping, information on modifying a scanner or where Internet interfaces exist (as does one for Deshler - I can sit here in NY and watch what’s going on in Ohio). If you are serious about using ATCS, I’d recommend joining.
That said - not all lines around the country are on it. Some places have perfectly good infrastructure and see no need to implement it. The ATCSmon site has a map showing which lines do use it.
Completely agree! I can sit at home and see just what’s headed my way with enough time to go and watch it go by.
I have no experience with this so will accept your testimony. On that basis, when Homeland Security figures this out they will have a lot more to worry about than bearded photographers.
Mac
[:-,] Only after they deal with what’s already available on the FlightStats.com site for the airline business - they can show that data on a map, though delayed for 5 minutes for ‘safety and security reasons’. See -
http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByRoute.do
- PDN.
Yep - Used that yesterday to track the progress of my mother’s trip to Florida…
Then you’ve got the hundreds of traffic cams available on the web…
What benefit is this to the “bad guys”? It doesn’t tell them which train is which. And, they’d need an inside source to find out where the “commodities of interest” are, and that same source would have even easier access to which train is which. Even a hand-held scanner to listen to voice radio from the trains would be more useful than ATCS data. Heck, two bad guys with cell phones along the ROW would be even MORE dangerous. Lets ban cell phones.
Don,
Me thinks you are right.
Mac